Hopefully, I can keep this type of post up every week, but there’s a lot of stuff I read on a weekly basis, but I don’t have enough time to cover them (or, believe it or not, I feel a little unqualified to talk about). So, without further ado, here’s what went down this week:
Anti-black sentiment in the Desi South Asian Community: I’ve unfortunately learned about this first-hand. Jeet Heer discusses the anti-black sentiment as a way to climb up the ladder to get closer to the majority who runs America, aka the white folks at the top. Heer’s article focuses on the conservative Desi politicians using whiteness and racism as a way to court the Right, but the article also provides some criticism to the community, highlighting how many South Asians recognize the benefits the civil rights movement have brought them in America (and how they shouldn’t forget that).
#AngryAsianGate: I’d been following the fallout from the brand disagreement between the Phil Yu of Angry Asian Man and Lela Lee of Angry Little Asian Girl. I’ve always been a big follower of Angry Asian Man, so I was shocked and saddened some bad stuff had come his way. You may or may not be caught up from your own reading, but to keep it short, things have gotten messy.
Jeff Yang and Jenn from Reappropriate have written excellent pieces analyzing the whole situation.
Ester Bloom and Jessica Williams: I’ve also read some pieces on Jessica Williams, Ester Bloom, and the whole unfortunate Billfold article. You can find a special no-linkback link to the article (because I don’t want to give it clicks) in my response to the whole thing. I go deep. If Bloom read it, I hope she learned something.
In any event, The New Republic’s Phoebe Maltz Bovy has written a great piece about how the rise of “feelings journalism” is taking over actual journalistic integrity. “Feelings journalism” is often very click-baity and, as Bovy states, reveals the horrible trend in today’s journalism of immediately giving an un-researched opinion just to make sure people click on the article and make money.
Another article, written by a woman going by the name Bell, explains why Bloom “needs the biggest best privilege check ever.” To quote her, “Holy SHIT. Okay, here’s a tip for white feminists who missed “How Not To Be an Asshole Day” at feminism school: WE DON’T GET TO TELL WOMEN OF COLOR HOW RACISM AFFECTS THEM. AT ALL. EVER. NO. DON’T DO IT.” For the record, Bell is white. As someone said about me in relation to my Fresh Off the Boat review, she’s someone from the outside who gets it.
What did you read this week?